We are a team of two sisters who specialise in primary education. We are determined to create resources of the highest standard that can be used without further preparation. Our lessons and assemblies have been designed to challenge children of all levels within a creative, engaging and inspiring context. Explore our shop to find lesson packs for languages, art and religious education, plans for assemblies and numerous high-quality resources to help you teach phonics, mathematics and literacy
We are a team of two sisters who specialise in primary education. We are determined to create resources of the highest standard that can be used without further preparation. Our lessons and assemblies have been designed to challenge children of all levels within a creative, engaging and inspiring context. Explore our shop to find lesson packs for languages, art and religious education, plans for assemblies and numerous high-quality resources to help you teach phonics, mathematics and literacy
This resource is a summer poetry comprehension activity for year 2, based around a poem called ‘Barbecue Day.’ The poem tells the tale of a disastrous barbecue that turns out to be the perfect summer day
The resource includes 3 differentiated levels of booklet, which use different layouts and slightly altered content and questions to make them suitable for a whole range of abilities.
The middle ability booklet is laid out in a similar way to the KS1 SATs booklets, with four pages of pictures and short verses to read and 3-4 questions per page. There are a range of ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where’ and ‘why’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers.
Answers are included.
A great way to bring summer into your classroom this term!
PDF file format.
This is Blossoming Minds’ second set of 10 PowerPoints to help prepare your class for the Phonics Screening Check.
Each PowerPoint includes 40 words, one on each slide. 20 words are pretend or ‘alien’ words and 20 are real words. They are organised in the same way as the screening check, starting with four simple phase 2 words, before moving on to phase 3, 4 and 5 and concluding with more complex words.
Get your class to call out together or choose targeted children to decode the words.
Use throughout the year - fit in during 5 minute gaps or use during a phonics lesson to make sure your entire class are prepared for the screening check!
This is a plan for KS1 Literacy that I used when we were learning about Britain and Ireland. There are 11 lessons in the Learning Journey that lead towards the children making their own leaflets. The children examine a range of leaflets about the local area so that they develop their awareness of what a leaflet actually is. They then experience different types of information text about the British Isles, with each mixed ability group focussing on a different country or city. Three days are reserved for the children to actually make their own leaflets.
We invited year 5 to visit at the end of the topic to read our leaflets and vote about which country they would visit. The children loved that part! The children worked in mixed ability groups and each group at some point had the opportunity to work in the role play corner, where they have to do some independent writing.
This resource is a comprehension activity based on the year 6 reading comprehension SATs paper.
The theme is the story of Palm Sunday, which I have rewritten to resemble the style of the reading paper. There is a reading booklet and an accompanying question booklet, which contains a range of questions based on last year’s paper. Answers are also included.
I have included 3 differentiated levels. The Higher Ability level (801 words) is similar to the SATs paper, whilst the Middle Ability (741 words) and Lower Ability (615 words) use slightly simplified wording in the reading and question booklet.
PDF file format. Colour and Black & White versions are included in the price.
You might also be interested in:
KS1 Easter RE Lesson Pack - Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday Lesson Plan and PowerPoint - KS2 (Easter)
Palm Sunday Story Powerpoint
Easter Assembly Plan - Palm Sunday
This resource is a comprehension activity for year 2. It is a fictional newspaper report, which I have written from the point of view of a reporter the day after Edith Cavell was shot. It is based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and includes 3 differentiated levels.
There are a range of 'what' 'where' and 'when' questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. There is a one page newspaper report, followed by two pages of questions. Answers are also included.
PDF file format.
This comprehension is also included as part of the 5 lesson year 2 literacy unit on Edith Cavell:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/year-2-literacy-5-lesson-plan-edith-cavell-history-11541732
An interactive PowerPoint to help your class revise the first half of phase 3 phonics.
The PowerPoint consists of 20 activities that focus on the skill of reading. They could be used as fillers for a whole month, or as part of a phonics lesson.
Example activities include:
speed reading
finding the odd one out,
finding as many ‘ch’ words as possible before the timer finishes…
…and many more!
I have created the PowerPoint to use with my year 1 class throughout the month of September as a revision activity, so some of the activities have an autumn/back to school theme. However, you can easily use them at any point in the year.
14 phase 3 sounds are covered, up to the ‘ee’ sound.
This is the first in Blossoming Minds’ new series of phonics filler activities! Follow us to see when we add more.
This interactive PowerPoint quiz is perfect for using in the 2020 Australian CBCA Book Week. It contains 78 questions on The Glimme by Emily Rodda. The Glimme is in the CBCA 2020 short list for ages 7-12.
You can use this as a starter, an assembly, a filler or a main activity. There are several questions for each of the 20 chapters. You can use the links to jump to different chapters or back to the main menu. All questions are multiple choice. After you have chosen an answer for each question, click again and the correct answer changes colour. The PowerPoint is not editable. Please click the ‘read only’ button to open.
Example questions include:
What is in the glass roofed room in Edge House? Painted panels, Plants or Dragons
Why is he renamed Penn? His mum was called Penny, He likes to write or He likes to draw
How long will Teller have to complete his mission? 1 year, 1 month or 1 week
What special gift does Lone Annie have? She can heal people, She can visit the past or She can see the future
The quiz is in the zip file.
(There are no illustrations from the book included because these are copyrighted.)
We also have a shorter 25 question quiz on this book:
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/quiz-for-cbca-book-week-2020-the-glimme-by-emily-rodda-25-questions-12364642
You might also be interested in our two quizzes on The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/quiz-for-cbca-book-week-2020-the-secrets-of-magnolia-moon-67-questions-12413025
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/quiz-for-cbca-book-week-2020-the-secrets-of-magnolia-moon-25-questions-12413298
This resource is a booklet that can be used by children to revisit or revise the phonics phase 5 ‘ie’ sound. There are 10 pages of activities for children to complete. It could be used as a start-of-day activity, filler, phonics lesson or homework activity.
Simply print and staple or use pages as individual worksheets.
A fun, visually appealing way to reinforce a phoneme.
This resource is an interactive lesson aimed at whole class or group phonics. It is a PowerPoint presentation that allows children to revise previous phonemes and learn or revisit the sound ‘thr.’ It takes 15-20 minutes.
This PowerPoint is split into different sections:
- Revision of phase 3 and 4 phonemes in a random order
- Introduction to ‘thr’ sound and opportunity to trace the shape of the sound
- Segmenting and blending sounds in real ‘thr’ words
- Phoneme counting
- Phoneme spotting in sentences
- Filling in missing words
- Writing a sentence with ‘thr’ sound
- Revision of tricky phase 4 words
This resource is a booklet that can be used by children to revisit or revise the phonics phase 5 ‘wh’ sound. There are 10 pages of activities for children to complete. It could be used as a start-of-day activity, filler, phonics lesson or homework activity.
Simply print and staple or use pages as individual worksheets.
A fun, visually appealing way to reinforce a phoneme.
PDF file format.
This resource is a non-fiction comprehension activity for year 2. It is based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and includes 3 differentiated levels.
There are a range of ‘how,’ ‘what,’ ‘when’ and ‘who’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. The activity is also laid out in a similar way to the SATs booklets, with four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page.
This comprehension is all about what activities children can do in the winter. It covers building snowmen, making bonfires and celebrating different festivals.
This resource includes 3 differentiated non-fiction comprehension booklets for year 2. Each booklet is all about what children could do to make their Mum happy on Mother’s Day. It is based on the KS1 SATs reading papers.
Each booklet contains a title page followed by four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page. Answers are also included. There are a range of ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. The activity is also laid out in a similar way to the SATs booklets. There is a colour and black & white version of each booklet.
(The preview pages show the title page and one of the comprehension pages from the colour and black & white middle ability booklets.) PDF file format.
This resource is a booklet that can be used by children to revisit or revise the phonics phase 5 ‘ph’ sound. There are 10 pages of activities for children to complete. It could be used as a start-of-day activity, filler, phonics lesson or homework activity.
Simply print and staple or use pages as individual worksheets.
A fun, visually appealing way to reinforce a phoneme.
PDF file format.
This resource is a non-fiction comprehension booklet for year 2 all about St Patrick's Day. It includes information about St Patrick's life, St Patrick's Day celebrations around the world and the languages spoken in Ireland. It is based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and includes 3 differentiated levels with answers.
There are a range of 'what,' 'where,' 'which' and 'how' questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. The activity is also laid out in a similar way to the SATs booklets, with four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page.
I have included colour and black & white versions of each of the 3 booklets which contain some cute clip art!
PDF file format.
This resource is a fiction comprehension activity for year 2. It is based on the KS1 SATs reading paper and includes 3 differentiated levels.
There are a range of ‘what,’ ‘who’ and ‘how’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions and some that require more detailed answers. The activity is also laid out in a similar way to the SATs booklets, with four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read and 2-3 questions per page.
This comprehension is the legend of St George.
I hope you find it useful.
PDF file format and editable Microsoft word format included in the price.
This resource is a non-fiction comprehension activity for year 2. It is all about Thanksgiving celebrations in America and covers the history of the holiday and current traditions. Perfect to use to teach children about the American version of harvest.
It includes 3 differentiated levels. Each booklet has four pages of pictures and short written extracts to read. There are 13 questions in the higher ability booklet, 12 questions in the middle ability and 10 questions in the lower ability. There are a range of ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘why,’ ‘where’ and ‘who’ questions, some multiple choice tick questions, true or false questions and some that require more detailed answers.
There are colour and black & white versions of the booklets and answers are included.
PDF file format.
You might be interested in:
Thanksgiving reading comprehension Year 3 and 4
Thanksgiving PowerPoint Presentation
This resource contains five old testament bible story comprehensions. They are suitable for using with year 1 or lower ability year 2.
There are three differentiated levels. There is a colour and black & white version of each level.
Each level contains five short pieces of text with words that can be sounded out. There are three trickier words which have pictures in the lower and middle levels to help children work out what they say.
Each passage is followed by 5 simple questions.
There are five different stories:
The story of creation
Adam and Eve
Noah’s Ark
Jonah and the Whale
Joseph
These are all in PDF file format.
There is also a PowerPoint included in the pack containing a slide for each text from the middle ability so that you can go through the comprehensions before the children complete them. Each slide also contains 3 words that are trickier to sound out, with sound buttons underneath them. This is not editable. Please click the ‘Read Only’ button in the centre of the screen to open it.
Answers are also included.
All of the documents are in the zip file.
No further preparation needed.
This resource contains 5 comprehension activities all about the weather. They are suitable for using with year 1 or lower ability year 2.
There are three differentiated levels. There is a colour and black & white version of each level.
Each level contains five short pieces of text with words that can be sounded out. There are three trickier words which have pictures in the lower and middle levels to help children work out what they say.
Each passage is followed by 5 simple questions.
There are five different topics:
What is the weather?
Let it snow…
Breezes, gusts and gales
Rain, rain go away
Heatwave!
PDF file format.
There is also a PowerPoint included in the pack containing a slide for each text from the middle ability so that you can go through the comprehensions before the children complete them. Each slide also contains 3 words that are trickier to sound out, with sound buttons underneath them. This is not editable. Please click the ‘Read Only’ button in the centre of the screen to open it.
Answers are also included.
All of the documents are in the zip file.
No further preparation needed.
This resource is a booklet that can be used by children to revisit or revise the phonics phase 5 ‘ay’ sound. There are 10 pages of activities for children to complete. It could be used as a start-of-day activity, filler, phonics lesson or homework activity.
Simply print and staple or use pages as individual worksheets.
A fun, visually appealing way to reinforce a phoneme.
This resource is a booklet that can be used by children to revisit or revise the phonics phase 5 ‘ea’ sound. There are 10 pages of activities for children to complete. It could be used as a start-of-day activity, filler, phonics lesson or homework activity.
Simply print and staple or use pages as individual worksheets.
A fun, visually appealing way to reinforce a phoneme.